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Tank and the Bangas

Tank and the Bangas is an American musical group based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band won the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest and in November 2019, they were nominated in the Best New Artist category for the 2020 Grammy Awards. They have released three studio albums, Thinktank (2013), Green Balloon (2019), and Red Balloon (2022).

Tank and the Bangas

2011–present

  • Tarriona "Tank" Ball
  • Anjelika "Jelly" Joseph
  • Joshua Johnson
  • Norman Spence
  • Albert Allenback
  • Joe Johnson
  • Danny Abel
  • Keenan McRae
  • Nita Bailey
  • Christopher Menge
  • Nicole Spence

Style[edit]

Writing in The Washingtonian, Heather Rudow described the group's work as "lively fusion of funk, soul, hip hop, rock, and spoken word."[2] Speaking to the Times-Picayune, the musicians in the group mentioned a variety of genres they identify with, including rock, folk, gospel and Anjelika "Jelly" Joseph's invention "Soulful Disney". In addition to Disney, the group has also mentioned anime as influence on the group's "childlike" and "magical" sensibility, in Ball's words.[1] In the Financial Times, Joshua David Stein said, "Tank and the Bangas don’t conform to the jazz stereotypes trotted out in the lobbies of convention hotels or milked on Frenchman Street. It’s New Orleans but it’s New Orleans now."[3]

Tarriona "Tank" Ball – lead vocals (2011–present)

[7]

Joshua Johnson – drums, musical director (2011–present)

[7]

Norman Spence II – bass, keyboards, guitar (2011–present)

[7]

Albert Allenback – alto saxophone, flute (2014–present)[7]

[8]

Tank and the Bangas discography

3

1

24

6

24

2014 RAWards Best New Orleans Artist of the Year

[21]

2014 Offbeat Magazine Emerging Artist Award[23]

[22]

2016 contest winners[24]

Afropunk Festival

2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner

[5]

2020 (nomination)[25]

Grammy Award for Best New Artist

2023 (nomination for Red Balloon)[26]

Grammy Award for Best Progressive R&B Album

2024 (nomination for "Todo Colores" with Ibrahim Maalouf and Cimafunk)[27]

Grammy Award for Best Global Music Performance

Official Tank and the Bangas website

at the Kennedy Center, January 13, 2016

Tank and the Bangas perform